Results | Photo Gallery | Highlights | Sunday's Heat SheetsLUBBOCK, Texas – K-State Track and Field continued action at day two of the Big 12 Outdoor Championships with several scoring and personal best efforts as well as Big 12 title performances from Devin Dick in the decathlon and Erica Twiss in the long jump. Collectively, both the K-State men and women finished the day in second place with 45 points each.

Déjà Vu for Dick & Kregers

Devin Dick and Reinis Kregers did something no teammates have ever done in K-State history. The decathlete duo finished first and second, respectively, in the multi-event, becoming the first teammates to finish 1-2 in the conference championship heptathlon and decathlon in the same season since Big 12 track started in 1997.

“They all did very well.” Rovelto said. “They all had good days yesterday and they all had probably even better days today, comparatively speaking.”

Both Dick and Kregers picked up right from where they left off the day before, trading first-place finishes throughout the final five events. Dick opened competition setting a personal best time of 14.75 seconds and taking first in the 110 meter hurdles. Kregers followed his teammate’s performance with a first-place finish of his own in the discus. In the ensuing pole vault, Dick set a personal outdoor best, clearing the bar at 4.79m/15-08.50 to tie for first. The decathlon’s penultimate event, the javelin, saw Kregers respond with a monster personal best throw of 60.70m/199-02, defeating the field by well over seven meters.

Neither Dick nor Kregers let up in the concluding 1500m either, with each athlete securing first and second, respectively. The former, in particular, left no doubt taking second in a personal best time of 4:32.07. It marked the first decathlon Big 12 title of Dick’s career, as his final point total of 7,792 shattered his previous best of 7,425 points and moved him to fourth all-time in K-State history. The Hutchinson, Kan., native became only the second K-State multi-athlete to win the heptathlon and decathlon in the same season joining Moritz Cleve, who accomplished the feat in 2009.

In all, the senior All-American finished the decathlon with five first-place finishes and top-three performances in eight of the decathlon’s 10 events. Dick registered eight total personal bests and six K-State top-10 decathlon marks as well in a dominant performance that saw him not relinquish first-place after the decathlon’s second event.

Rovelto had nothing but praise for the senior’s performance.

“Devin, he really had a great meet,” Rovelto said. “When you factor in a lot of the winds were swirling winds, any way you slice it, he had a hell of a decathlon, he really did.”

“The 1500 was a huge PR, if he would have done that at sea level it would have been a huge PR, but doing that at altitude is really, really good. He always tries, and sometimes he tries too hard and that gets him in trouble, but he always tries, I was proud that he hung in there in the discus and he did a nice job in the javelin and the pole vault, but the 1500 was just awesome.”

For Kregers, it marked the second-straight season he finished second in the decathlon, with his final tally of 7,618 points easily besting his previous high of 7,343 and moving him to eighth-best in school history. The sophomore’s PR in the javelin was also the No. 5 mark in K-State decathlon history.

Only a sophomore, Rovelto said Kreger’s early career success bodes well for his future.

“Reinis really had a great meet,” Rovelto said. “The thing for [Reinis] is he is just a sophomore, a true sophomore. You go through our history, obviously we’ve had a lot of good decathletes, and the only guys who have scored that high or higher in their sophomore years are guys that were ultimately Olympians, or World Championship-type athletes. So that’s a really good score for a sophomore.”

Competing alongside Dick and Kregers for the Wildcats was Deterding. The freshman chipped in another three points for the men’s team with a sixth-place finish. Deterding’s second day effort was highlighted by a third-place performance in the 110m hurdles that saw him run a season-best non-wind-aided time of 15.21 seconds. The Wildcat decathletes, as a whole, combined for 21 points.

Rovelto praised the freshman’s performance in his first career decathlon.

“Adam had a great meet,” Rovelto said. “Granted he’s a newbie, but he still did a nice job. He had some really significant marks for him so he did some nice things.”

Twiss Goes Gold in the Long Jump

The 2014 season has been one of dominant performances for Erica Twiss. In terms of drama, there’s been a little bit of that too. At Big 12 Indoors, it wasn’t until the final event of the pentathlon, the 800 meter, that Twiss secured her first-ever conference title in the event.

In today’s long jump, Twiss held the top mark of 6.24m/20-05.75 heading into the final round of jumps and appeared to be well in-line for her first long jump conference title. That was until Kansas’ Sydney Conley, the last remaining athlete to go before Twiss in the final round, took the lead with a leap of 6.29m/20-08.00.

Twiss, who had fouled in the previous two jumps, did not falter though, leaping 6.30m/20-08.00 to secure her second conference title this year. For the senior it was an impressive performance, as she became only the third Wildcat women’s athlete to win an outdoor conference title in the event and the first since Candice Mills in 2008.

Rovelto said Twiss has continued to fulfill expectations.

“I’m not at all shocked she jumped what she did,” Rovelto said. “Even though her PR is 6.37m, I really feel like she is on the verge of jumping in the 6.50m range. For her to jump what she did today in negative wind, she did a really good job of competing today. And I think it speaks to the difficulty of the conditions that she did a better job competing today against some great athletes. Some of those athletes are NCAA Champions, All-Americans in the event.

“For her to win like she did is pretty special.”

Following the title performance, the Carrollton, Texas, native closed out her day with qualifying efforts in both the 100 meter and 400 meter hurdles.

Heading into day two, the trio of Mbeng, Kolmer and Barnes were fourth, fifth and eighth in the multi’s standings. Action kicked off with the long jump that saw Mbeng finish third with a leap of 5.66m/18-07.00. Kolmer and Barnes tied for sixth, with both athletes leaping a season-best 5.54m/18-02.25.

Following the javelin that saw Barnes move from eighth to seventh overall with a third-place finish, all three athletes excelled in the final event of the day, the 800 meter. Mbeng took first in the event, clocking in at 2:14.63. It was a spirited effort by the senior, as she blew past second-place finisher Jenna Pfeiffer of Baylor in the final stretch of the race.

Kolmer, meanwhile, took third and Barnes fifth in 2:15.28 and 2:17.95, respectively. Racing at altitude, all three times were season bests for each athlete, with both Mbeng’s and Kolmer’s times being the fastest times run by a Wildcat multi-athlete in the heptathlon this season. Kolmer’s effort was also a personal best, ranking No. 3 all-time in school heptathlon history.

The top-five finishes moved Mbeng up to third and Barnes to sixth, while Kolmer remained in fifth just behind fourth-place finisher and senior All-American Shanay Briscoe. Mbeng’s final tally of 5,379 points was the best by a Wildcat this season. Both Kolmer and Barnes set personal bests with totals of 5,289 and 5,232 points, respectively. For Barnes, it’s the second time she set a personal best in the multi-event this season, while Kolmer bested her previous high of 5,105 points set at last season’s Jim Click Shootout – both marks are within the K-State top-10.

Rovelto thought all three athletes performed well.

“They all competed pretty well,” Rovelto said. “Joslyn and Sarah both had personal bests. Everything they did today, they did a nice job and they were basically right at or over combined event PRs. You hate to boil it down to one event because there are seven, but, the reality is a pretty tell-tale sign of whether or not people are competing is what they do in the last event and all of them did a really nice job there, all three of them.”

The three scoring performances continued what has been a dominant three-year stretch for K-State Track and Field in the women’s heptathlon. In the past three conference meets, the Wildcat multis have combined for 10 or more total points in each meet, including three or more athletes recording scoring efforts in each meet. Mbeng’s career-high finish made it three-straight years the Wildcats have had a top-three finisher, while Kolmer scored for a second-straight season.

In all, the Wildcat heptathletes have combined for nearly 40 percent (39.3 – 46/117) of the total points awarded the past three seasons combined, the highest percentage by far of any Big 12 school – ahead of both second-place Kansas (25.6 – 30/117) and third-place Texas Tech (13.7 – 16/117).

Field and Otuonye Nab Points for the Wildcat Men

Devin Field and Ifeanyichukwu Otuonye combined for nine points in the men’s long jump, finishing third and sixth, respectively. Field’s final jump of 7.81m/25-07.50 was by far a career-best, as the sophomore moved to fifth all-time in K-State history. The second-place performance for Field also marked the third-straight year the Wildcats have had a men’s long jumper finish top-three in the event outdoors.

For Otuonye, his mark of 7.43m/24-04.50 tied a personal outdoor best set this at this season’s Jim Click Shootout, which is also a Turks and Caicos national record in the event outdoors. The scoring effort also made it four-straight conference meets that the sophomore has recorded points in the long jump. Also competing for the ‘Cats in the long jump was Tyris Jefferson, who finished 11th with a leap of 7.18m/23-06.76, narrowly missing his outdoor best mark of 7.21m/23-08.00.

Rovelto thought the overall performances were a solid collective effort by the three jumpers.

“Devin has been dinged up, Tyris and Ifeanyi haven’t almost competed a month [in the long jump],” Rovelto said. “I was proud of all three of those guys; I thought they did a great job.”

Points in the Shot Put

In the shot put, Ryan Hershberger closed out his last conference with a career-best performance in the shot put, while Dani Winters notched a fifth-place finish for the women.

Placing third, Hershberger finished with a final mark of 18.74m/61—05.75. Along with tacking on six points to the men’s overall point total, the senior thrower finished his K-State career with scoring performances in the shot put in five-straight conference meets.

On the women’s side, Winters’ four points came on a personal best chuck of 15.93m/52-03.25. It marked the second-straight meet Winters had set a PR in the event, as she has recorded scoring performances in both the indoor and outdoor shot put.

Onto the Finals…

• In the men’s track events, Carlos Rodriguez and Kyle Hanson qualified for their respective finals. Rodriguez took the final qualifying spot at eighth in a considerably deep 100 meter field. His time of 10.47 ensured what will be his first career scoring performance tomorrow – he also raced in the 100m in 2012, finishing ninth overall.

In the 800 meter, Kyle Hanson, in one of his fastest times this season, finished sixth overall in a time of 1:50.57. Also in his final conference meet with the Wildcats, Hanson made it back-to-back outdoor seasons that he has advanced to the 800m final.

• Lastly, in the women’s track events, a trio of sophomores all advanced to their respective finals. Tia' Gamble joined Twiss in the 400H, finishing sixth in a time of 59.92, while Sonia Gaskin and Mary Frances Donnelly took seventh and eighth, respectively, in the 400 meter and 1500 meter. Gaskin notched a sub 53-second time at 52.95 and Donnelly, in her first career outdoor conference 1500m, finished her prelim in 4:29.35 – her second sub 4:30 time this season.

The Wildcats will wrap up the Big 12 Outdoor Championships tomorrow. Action is set to start at 11 a.m., in the field with the women’s discus. For more information on today’s competition, visit www.k-statesports.com.

Big 12 Track and Field Outdoor ChampionshipsFuller Track and Field ComplexLubbock, Texas